Baseball Ricebirds edge Vilonia 4-3

It took all nine innings and a misstep by the Eagles, but the Stuttgart Ricebirds came away with a 4-3 win over Vilonia Tuesday.

It took over two innings before either team could get going offensively.

Vilonia was first to get on the board, taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the third.

Stuttgart answered in the bottom of the inning with three runs of its own.

Regan Counce walked to start the inning, and Hunter Harris followed with a walk. Counce stole third just before Dontrell Brown doubled to centerfield, scoring Counce and Harris. Brown then scored on a single to left field by Taylor Daniels to put Stuttgart up 3-1.

Vilonia cut the Ricebird lead to 3-2 with another run in the top of the fourth.

The 3-2 score held until the top of the seventh when the Eagles tied the game at 3-3.

Neither team could score, and the game headed into the bottom of the ninth tied at 3 all.

Brown singled to centerfield with one out for the Birds. Daniels singled to left, and Jon Curtis walked to load the bases. Following an infield fly for the second out of the inning, Brown scored on an error by the Vilonia catcher to give Stuttgart the 4-3 win.

Brown led the Ricebirds with four hits and two runs scored. Daniels tallied two hits for Stuttgart, while Jay McGee and Gere Elam each had one hit.

McGee and Counce combined for the win on Stuttgart, giving up just three runs on six hits. McGee struck out five Vilonia batters, while Counce notched two strikeouts.

The Birds are back in action Thursday when they travel to Newport for 2-4A conference action. First pitch is set for 4:30 p.m.

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